Posts Tagged ‘young moon’

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The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to produce the most meteors before dawn tomorrow (Friday, May 6). But – because these meteors have a relatively broad maximum – you can look for some Eta Aquarids before dawn on Saturday, too.
Planets visible at dawn: Venus and possibly Mercury and Jupiter
The Eta Aquarid meteors are strictly for night owls or early
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The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is now taking stage in the wee hours before dawn. It has expected to peak in the predawn sky on Friday morning – May 6, 2011 – in the dark hour before astronomical twilight. Don’t know when astronomical twilight begins in your sky? Find out with this handy custom sunrise sunset calendar.
Under ideal conditions, this shower may produce up to 20 to 40 meteors per hour. Even higher
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Notice that we’ve shrunk the scale of today’s chart, in order to take in a wide sweep of sky from northeast to southeast. Tonight, let the Big Dipper introduce you to another bright star.
This star is Spica in the constellation Virgo the Maiden. If you’re outside this evening, you can follow the arc to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica.
First follow the curve made by these stars in the Big Dipper’s
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If you live in North America, Europe or far western Asia, you might be able to catch an exceedingly young lunar crescent after sunset on April 4, 2011, which is the day after new moon. All other things being equal, it’ll be hardest to spot the young moon in Asia and easiest to spot in North America. Springtime is the best time to catch a young evening crescent, because that’s when the waxing crescent moon
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For us in North America, March 5 presents a golden opportunity to catch a very young moon. As seen from North America, tonight’s waxing crescent moon is less than 30 hours old. In other words, the moon will make its first appearance in the March evening sky less than 30 hours after the moon turns new. You will need a level horizon and crystal-clear skies to see the very thin lunar crescent in the west after
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To find the gorgeous Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus, face north to northwest as darkness falls this evening. Here you can find the Double Cluster in the constellation Perseus. These are two open star clusters, known as “H” and “Chi” Persei (also called NGC 884 and 869).
How to find them? First, you need a dark sky. Second, you may need binoculars, as the Double Cluster is only faintly
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The most brilliant of all the planets, Venus, reaches its farthest point west of the sun in Earth’s sky on January 8, 2011. Astronomers call this a “greatest elongation” of Venus. At such times, Venus shines as the brilliant morning ’star’ in the east before sunrise. At its greatest morning elongation, Venus typically rises 3 hours or more before sunrise.
Because the orbit of Venus lies inside of
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You will need a very dark sky to see the constellation Monoceros the Unicorn on these cold January nights.
How can you find the Unicorn? Focus in on the bright stars Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon. They make a triangle, sometimes called the Winter Triangle. Within this triangle of stars, hidden in between the many bright and glittering stars and constellations visible at this time of year, there is a
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If you like to sleep late but don’t want to miss the sunrise, this time of year should be your favorite. The latest sunrises of the year for mid-latitudes in the northern hemisphere are happening around now. For those in Wichita, Kansas, for example, the sunrise time for the next several days will be around 7:45 in the morning. Sleep on!
The December solstice always brings the shortest day. However, the
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As darkness falls, there are several ways to distinguish the brilliant star Capella from the other bright stars in the western half of sky. Capella, the northernmost first-magnitude star, is the farthest bright star to your right as you’re facing west. In addition, Capella looks yellow, like our sun. Moreover, Capella has a famous trio of starlets accompanying her, dubbed “The Kids.”
Moreover, at nightfall and early evening
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